Your credit card bill might look tiny when companies and countries are collapsing under debt but that’s not a reason to turn a blind eye and a new private-public partnership is on hand to help tackle the issue.

The South African Savings Institute (SASI), National Treasury and corporate partners including Nedbank and Old Mutual on Friday launched the SASI Savings Convention at Maponya Mall in Soweto, aiming to bring savings, financial literacy knowledge and resources to people who need it.

“Our new Savings Month initiative, the SASI Savings Convention, provides consumers with first-hand guidance as a one-stop platform for productive interaction between the demand and supply said of the financial sector – consumers, practitioners, regulators and policymakers,” said SASI chairperson Prem Govender.

Govender said improving financial literacy lay in helping people to protect themselves and grow their wealth. Citing data from Statistics SA, Govender said that on average South Africans spend 76% of their monthly income on debt.

She added: “The 2014 Finscope survey indicates that, while there was an increase in the salaried adult population in 2014, 78% of the adult population earned an average personal monthly income of less than R2 000 and only 44% have any long-term savings or retirement products.

“The focus for National Savings Month 2015 is on savings vehicles and issues such as the inter-generational wealth gap and its impact on saving. We need to find solutions to these specific challenges and work to improve financial literacy.”